Injured Jason Day out; Players Championship field set for next week's tournament

Two top-six players on the World Golf Rankings won’t be at The Players Championship next week because of injuries.

Anyone else of consequence at the highest levels of golf have formally committed to the tournament, which will be May 8-11 at the TPC Sawgrass Players Stadium Course.

Pros had until 5 p.m. on Friday to commit.

Top-ranked Tiger Woods announced several weeks ago that he would not be able to defend his title because of back surgery. Jason Day, ranked sixth, withdrew on Friday because of recurring problems with his left thumb.

The four players between Woods and Day are in the field, No. 2 Adam Scott, No. 3 Henrik Stenson, No. 4 Bubba Watson and No. 5 Matt Kuchar. Kuchar, Scott and Stenson are past Players winners.

After Day, the next 16 players on the world rankings are in, including 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, past Players winners Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson, 2013 major champions Jason Dufner and Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Zach Johnson and Dustin Johnson.

Two other top-50 players in the world declined the chance for a piece of a $10 million purse, No. 23 Victor Dubuisson of France and No. 33 Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain.

Breaking down the Players field further:

■ There are 33 of the last 35 PGA Tour winners in the past calendar year, minus only Woods and Day.

■ There are 89 of 100 players on the current FedEx Cup points list. Of the nine not in the field, eight are alternates this week.

■ Eighteen players who have combined to win the last 20 major championships in a row are in the field, with 21 major champions competing in all.

■ Seven past Players champions are trying to join six others who have won multiple tournaments.

■ The last four FedEx Cup champions are in the PGA Tour event that offers the most points, Stenson, Brandt Snedeker, Bill Haas and Jim Furyk.

■ The First Coast and South Georgia will be presented by 13 players, including 2013-2014 tournament winners Matt Every of Jacksonville Beach and Kuchar, Harris English, Johnson and Russell Henley of St. Simons Island, Ga.

There are only two possible additions to the field, the winner of this week’s Wells-Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C., and J.B. Holmes, if he finishes 63rd or higher to get the eight FedEx Cup points necessary to qualify for a medical exemption. If one gets in, Ryo Ishikawa will be knocked out of the field and moved to first alternate. If both spots are taken by Holmes and the Wells-Fargo winner, Russell Knox of Atlantic Beach and Ishikawa will be squeezed out of the field and to the alternates list. Holmes is tied for fourth after the second round.